


Everything for Kindness

by Assassino



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Major Final Boss Spoilers, Persona 5 Royal - Freeform, Royal Spoilers, Seriously turn back if you haven't finished the game, Slight ShuMako Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23795713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assassino/pseuds/Assassino
Summary: One final showdown at the top of paradise. The fight between two conflicting ideals. And the Phantom Thieves flying high.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Everything for Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> I do apologize for having such a massive gap between this and my last story. I do have a couple in the works that I plan to release at some point soon! 
> 
> Once again, this is a short story but it contains MASSIVE spoilers for Persona 5 Royal and it's new content. This will be the last warning I give to you all. But anyways, I hope you enjoy the story. Happy early Birthday Makoto Niijima!

Feeling the freezing gusts of wind against Joker’s face didn’t bother him much. What did bother him was the series of events that led him to be hanging from the Mona-copter by just his grappling hook. Ren was still trying to recover from the confusion and fear that he felt before Morgana decided that he could fly. The fearless leader was still shaking from the dilemma. But his mind wandered to the palace ruler. After the Phantom Thieves defeated Maruki, he felt apprehensive but also relieved for the most part. Ren never imagined that the fight against Maruki would have turned out to be this. He knew about his Persona. He knew about his mission. He knew about what he was capable of. And Ren still couldn’t help but appreciate the amount of willpower Dr. Maruki mustered to summon a Persona of that size. It had reminded him of their battle against the God of Control. 

Gripping onto the grappling rope, he tried to look down and see if Maruki managed to survive. But he couldn’t find anything but the loud creaks of metal depressing and falling into the ocean. The glass paths that led all around the monumental laboratory all slowly started to either crack or fade away. The palace was collapsing so slowly that Ren still held on to hope that Maruki might have lived.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed something. The line attaching him to Morgana started to shake, tossing Joker in all directions for a moment. Then the helicopter stopped. Joker looked up and saw a black and neon blue tendril latched onto the helicopter. The tentacle slowly started to pull the Mona-copter down, with Morgana struggling to keep up in altitude. The rotors started to spin even faster, almost to the point of breaking. Ren could hear Morgana screaming something but it was practically inaudible from where he was. 

Following the tendril to its source, he found the man of the hour. Takuto Maruki, gripping his arm with one hand and controlling the tentacle with the other on his staff.

From afar, his eyes locked with Maruki’s. He glared at Ren with the same determination and resolve that he showed when the Phantom Thieves first encountered him at the top of paradise. The expression on his face almost felt like he was beckoning for Joker to come down to him. Ren understood why Maruki was doing this. If he wanted to kill the Phantom Thieves, he would have summoned more than just one tendril. He just wanted to talk.

“Joker, are you okay?” Ren almost forgot about the communicator that he had in his ear. Makoto’s voice, as frantic as she sounded in this moment, was always a relief for him to listen to. But now it felt bittersweet. He knew what he had to do and the risk that came with it. 

With a deep breath, Ren masked the quiver and anxiety in his voice as best he could. “I’m fine, Queen. There’s just something I have to do.”

“What are you talking about?” Makoto asked him so calmly but with a somber hint to her tone. You wouldn’t think from how they first met that she was so observant. There’s not doubt that Makoto knew what Ren had to do.

“I’ll be a little late to the celebration after this.” Joker raised his head and looked at the helicopter above him, where he saw everyone squished into the cockpit. Makoto was the only one who was focused on Ren. “Wait for me, okay?”

He heard Makoto yell something before cutting off his communicator. Ren had to count to three in his head before he could build up the courage to retract his grappling hook from the Mona-copter. As he started freefalling, he threw his knife at the tentacle. With a swift throw and slice, the small dagger cut the tendril clean. The dismembered part of it fell into the air and disappeared into black particles. That was the last he saw of his trusty knife.

The wind almost started to peel his face back with his immediate dive downward. Decelerating his descent and rolling to cushion his landing, he stood up and faced forward towards Maruki.

“Sorry to cut your flight short, Ren.” Maruki gripped his staff, struggling to keep himself standing straight. He looked up skyward, watching as pieces of his own palace slowly continued to collapse and fade away. “This place is done for. Along with the reality I dreamed of…”

Maruki let go of the staff, letting it fall with a soft clang on the glass bridge they both stood on. Snowflakes floated all around them. “Dr. Maruki…”

“I… have lost. Even if I were to try that fight over, I’m sure I’d only lose again.” Maruki adjusted his broken glasses and lowered his head to face Joker. “So I know this is going to sound pretty stupid. I’ve been holding all of these feelings inside me for so long… So please humor me. Help me kill any last regret I might have.”

Ren felt sympathetic for Maruki. He was different from the other palace rulers the Phantom Thieves have faced. Dr. Maruki ran from his problems by trying to fix the world. He tunneled towards the heart of other people’s pain rather than his own. Ren could understand how much rage and frustration he must have been holding in. He nodded in agreement to his request, “Very well.”

The outfit that Maruki donned when he first summoned his Persona faded away into blue flames. He was left in a dirt and tattered version of his white suit from when they first met in his palace. Joker then noticed the winter cold press against his face and bright blue lights cloud his vision. He looked in the direction that they flew away in, seeing that his mask was disappearing. 

“The disappearance of my palace… of the entire Metaverse is drawing near. Seems like neither of us can summon our Personas anymore.” Maruki balled up his fists, his eyes almost flaring up with rage. Fixated on Joker, he spoke in such a gentle manner as he walked forward. “Let’s begin.” 

Ren walked up to the fight with a heavy, visible exhale of air. His muscles ached and cried out in rebellion as he prepared for Maruki. Biding the pain of each step, he lifted his fists. 

“I gave up everything! EVERYTHING!” Maruki’s first swing came faster than Ren expected, with him recoiling from the punch. His legs wobbled and Ren almost fell to the ground. “So why?!”

Returning the punch and landing it on the side of Maruki’s head made the doctor stagger backwards. “You ran from everything, Maruki. Ran from your pain! Ran from Rumi...:”

His scream of anger rang loud and his next punch packed a lot more pain behind it. Ren felt himself starting to feel dizzy. He practically had to will himself to stay conscious. “Why? Why Rumi? WHY HER?”

Joker tasted the iron in his mouth and spit out a portion of blood. “It’s not fair what happened to her... Life is never fair! But you can start over… I started over! After the world labeled me! Branded me! REJECTED ME!” Ren launched his next attack, not expecting it to push back Maruki as much as it did. The punch connected to his jaw, almost knocking him off the platform.

Maruki managed to catch himself before he could fall. “You could have had a world where everyone accepted you... You could have had… a reality where no one… no one suffers.” Ren noticed that Maruki was losing his balance more and more. Distracted by his stance, Maruki punched with less energy but enough force to still have Ren stumble back. 

Ren’s breathing became labored and heavier. He struggled to inhale and even speak, “That suffering led me to my friends… It made me… who I am. I could never give that up…” His vision was starting to blur but his strike still connected. Joker could almost make out Maruki falling further backwards.

The doctor tried to step forward, his legs shaking and his grunts of effort showing that he was on his last burst of energy. Maruki’s face twisted in anger, the tears descending down his face as he yelled as hard as he could. He screamed at the top of his lungs until his vocal chords refused any further strain. Desperately he wailed his arms around like in a tantrum. And with a soft whimper, Maruki’s legs finally buckled as he fell to the ground.

Ren’s legs almost gave out, with only his knees supporting him after he almost fell too. His lungs were practically begging him for air but each breathe hurt his ribs. The adrenaline started to fade and he started to feel all the pain of each attack. It was a miracle he didn’t pass out from the exhaustion. 

Maruki laid on the glass with his arms spread out, staring at the snowfall and the flakes that fell on his face. “You’re so strong Ren… Much stronger than me. Where do you find such strength? Such resolve…?”

Whenever Ren was whisked off to the Velvet Room, Igor and Lavenza had always emphasized the importance of his bonds. Ren never really understood why until he got to know his friends. Before he arrived at Shujin, he felt so alone after his arrest. Like the world had abandoned him. Even after attending school, everyone was revolted by his presence. Looking back, he might have even taken Maruki’s offer. But now... 

“My friends… they were always there for me. When everyone saw me as a criminal... When I became a Phantom Thief... When I almost died… I mean it when I said I wouldn’t give that up for anything.” 

Ren faintly heard the doctor chuckle so softly. The sound was almost drowned out from the wind. “I had always thought that a path like this would be one I needed to take alone. Erase everyone’s pain… Ignoring my own.”

“Pain can be awful… Maybe even too much sometimes. But once we let that pain go, we can accept that it defines us. And that we decide what to do with that pain.” 

Maruki didn’t respond. His dejected gaze stayed facing the sky above. The snow had started to get heavier. Ren thought it was a miracle that the palace had survived for this long. Dr. Maruki raised his hand open and upward. A small snowflake fell into his palm, where it immediately melted as soon as he looked. He closed his eyes, his mouth moving up to form a soft smile. 

“I wish I was more like you, Ren… I’m done. I get it now. All thanks to you.”

The bridge started to shake, with large cracks in the glass surrounding Maruki. Unfazed and unafraid, Maruki didn’t even seem to notice the ground collapsing under him. With his eyes shut, he had prepared himself for whatever fate the universe resigned him to. But when he opened them again, he didn’t think he would still be alive with Ren holding onto his hand with a tight grip. Ren gritted his teeth and used the last of his strength to keep Maruki from falling.

Dangling from the edge of the bridge, Maruki didn’t even look up. His own tears falling into the abyss below. “Come on... “ He struggled to get the words out, almost choking up on the spot. “I said I’m done… Please, let go of my hand.”

Ren grunted as gravity put an even further strain on his exhausted arm. “You and I are going back together. You deserve more than this, Doc!”

Maruki looked up to Ren, “Your eyes are as bright and honest as ever…You keep your head up no matter the pain or suffering.” Returning a soft smile to him, his eyes went to the ruins of the palace. “I must have always been afraid… that you and I wouldn’t wish for the same reality.” 

Ren’s grip on Maruki started to loosen as his hand began to slip. Joker tried to pull up as best he could but he was slipping fast. He would have panicked if it hadn’t been for the bright spotlight that started to blind his eyes. As the light got closer, he could hear the sounds of helicopter rotors rapidly spinning. “So bright…” Maruki’s eyes closed shut, passing out from the exhaustion Ren could assume.

He heard two familiar sounds, which were both confirmed to Ren he noticed two figures descend from the Mona-copter. Ryuji descended further down with a grappling hook of his own to catch Maruki, grabbing a hold of his body and flying back up. 

The next figure picked him up with little effort, wrapping one arm around his waist. When he lifted his head, he was met with the dark crimson eyes of Makoto Niijima. He managed a grin of relief, even with as drained as he was from everything. “Queen…”

Makoto returned the smile, “I was not letting you out of my sight after Sis’ palace, Joker.”

Joker rested his head on his Queen’s shoulder. Ren was on the verge of collapsing but he managed to tell his Queen one last thing before losing consciousness.

“Thank you…”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the short read! I really enjoyed Maruki as an antagonist and I loved the last scene where you practically go Metal Gear Solid with him. I just wished there was more to that scene, which is what gave me the idea for this!
> 
> Please leave any comments or criticisms you might have about the story or my writing or anything at all. Thank you for reading!


End file.
